A few good things to do with floss?

When you visit Maureen or myself for your hygiene visit, I expect at one point or another we have told you about the importance of flossing or using bottle brushes to clean away the sticky bacterial plaque from in between your teeth!

But here are a few more ideas of what you can use that floss for…

• To help with the washing: for when we get terrible weather tie the floss between two chairs and hang light weight items like socks over the floss to dry
• For a day out: since the summer is coming (eventually) when you head off to the seaside take your floss, some bait and one of the nets that you put the clothes washing tablets in and head out crabbing.
• For the garden: uses floss to tie up your climbing plants to the bean poles and trellises
• For the Kitchen: If your stuffing a joint of meat you can use unwaxed unflavoured dental floss to tie the joint.
• For a saving a life: by using the floss to clean in between your teeth, you help to remove the sticky bacterial plaque that can cause gum disease. We know that having gum disease can increase the risk of other health problems such as heart disease, strokes and diabetes!

Rachael

Healthy Snack for Healthy Teeth - Advice for Busy Mums from Absolute Dental

As a busy mum with two young children I sometime struggle to create the perfect diet for my girls on a day to day basis. Although I ensure mealtimes are healthy, I sometimes look back on the day and realise how many sugary foods they have actually eaten in between meals! Chocolate buttons from nanny, an ice cream on a day out, a biscuit as a treat whilst watching their favourite film. Without realising it, it is very easy to consume a huge amount of sugar which as we all know is not good for our teeth. Making a few changes can make a huge difference to your child's health. Make snacks fruit or raw vegetables such as apples, crunchy carrot sticks or cucumber. These are great for your teeth as extra chewing creates more saliva and help keep tooth surfaces clean. Choose low fat yogurts as these contain phosphates which actually help remineralize teeth. This means that the outer surface of the tooth becomes stronger and more resistant to tooth decay. Avoid sticky, chewy foods such as raisins, cookies, granola bars and sweets as these stick to the tooth surfaces. The longer that food is in contact with the tooth surface, the higher the risk of tooth decay in these teeth. Keep drinks to water throughout the day and if your children insist on juice then allow them to have it at mealtimes only to limit the amount of acid attacks on the teeth. Eat some cheese!! This is perfect to have after a pudding. It's one of the best foods for healthy teeth. Its low in sugar and high in calcium and contains casein which is particularly useful for strengthening tooth enamel. If your children are having a treat then make sure they eat it all at once instead of making it last throughout the day, otherwise the sugar will provide constant fuel to feed bacteria which will lead to plaque developing and tooth decay!! A healthy diet, along with excellent brushing and visiting us every 6 months should mean a perfect healthy mouth for our children. Something all us parents want! At Absolute Dental, we encourage healthy eating habits and have a "Healthy Snacks" information sheet for children and parents - please ask if you would like one of these when we next see you! Sophie

Changes in Health & Safety Legislation for Dental Practices

Every dental practice in the land has to adhere to strict rules (quite rightly) on health and safety to ensure that everyone who steps foot inside the practice; patients, visitors, staff, cleaners, waste collectors are free from the dangers that the dental environment could hold.

One of the more recent documents is the Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 (this has had many versions since its conception, and 01-05 relates to its current carnation). This document was once again updated at the end of March 2013.

The main focus of this document is to ensure that the decontamination procedures in practices are robust enough to prevent cross infection between patients.

For many practices this has meant fundamental changes to their practices in both the physical layout of the practice and the work practices of their teams. Because of this, often the mere mention of HTM01-05 strikes either fear or frustration into the dental team.

Here at Absolute Dental, we have always strived to meant the "Best Practice" guidelines set out in HTM01-05. The safety of the patients and the team here at Absolute are paramount. Despite the most recent changes HTM01-05, our working practices have had to change very little, as we are already meeting and exceeding current requirements.

We are very proud of our working policies here, and our Health & Safety Policy is available for anyone to download via our website. This is regularly reviewed and updated by our clinical leads and regular training on Cross Infection Control is carried out with the team here at Absolute.

Our obligation to provide a safe environment is taken very seriously, if you would like to know any more about our working policies, please feel free to download a copy from our website, or ask any team member for more details.

A patient close to my heart!

This blog by our dental therapist Rachael, shows how dental treatment not only works to improve your smile, but also your overall health, well-being and confidence.
Before Treatment:

I have recently booked my dearly beloved in to see Bill Beare, poor Simon probably regrets the day he smiled at me! We’ve been together 8 years.

He is about to have some lovely dentures made by Absolute Dentals restorative specialist Bill Beare as he is a difficult case, even though he is only 40 he hasn’t had any molar teeth for many years and is finding it tricky to eat and isn’t keen on smiling and his confidence is low, he started his own business in December 2011 and finds it embarrassing speaking to new customers.

Simon is now in Bills capable hands to be looked after and get the smile he deserves!

Rachael Mounce

After Treatment

"I would like to Thank everyone at Absolute, for the excellent care and treatment I've received. A big Thank You to Bill Beare, and to lovely Amber for my nice cup of coffee!"

Simon Mounce